Don’t be duped by Xulon Press & Salem Communications Christian claims & empty promises.
Xulon Press sells an illusion of publicity & media accessibility that it can’t back up. Xulon Press & Salem Communications failed Paul F Davis author of 4 books.<br>
http://www.PaulFDavis.com<br>
RevivingNations@yahoo.com<br>
Xulon Press, a Christian book publisher, provides 10 reasons to choose a publisher on their website – helpful information indeed when considering any publisher. The publisher owned by Salem Communications gives authors some guidelines, but fails to fulfill many of their own promises to its authors.<br>
Author Paul F Davis published 4 books with Xulon Press and gives his opinion in this true & false assessment below.<br>
10 Guidelines to Measure a Publisher By<br>
EXPERIENCE: Xulon Press claims to have published more than 3,900 Christian books since 1999. Title by title, they say they are larger than any other Christian book publisher. That is highly questionable when you consider enormous Christian publishers like Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, and Creation House. I’d like to know how many of Xulon’s books sold more than 100 copies?<br>
AFFORDABLE: For as little as $999 you can get published! If you do your homework when it comes to print on demand (POD) publishing, authors can actually get published for a third of the cost Xulon offers. Therefore $999 is not all that affordable. As to Xulon’s assertion about no “hidden fees” that might be so, but certainly there are flawed promises about publicity and press releases that go unfulfilled. What authors expect and what authors get greatly differs. Xulon’s “proven, time-tested ways to distribute and market your book” are very weak and feeble. I have published 4 books with Xulon and none of their marketing and distribution efforts produced for me.<br>
REPUTATION: It’s important that you find a book publisher you can trust. Well that’s quite obvious. Yet just because someone claims to be Christian or a big Christian company does not make them to be trustworthy. Hitler also claimed to be Christian. Owned by Salem Communications, which Xulon Press claims to be one of the country’s largest faith-based publishing and communications organizations, it is interesting that Xulon Press could not produce in their publicity package for any of my 4 books a single radio interview.<br>
http://www.PaulFDavis.com<br>
RevivingNations@yahoo.com<br>
Yet they sold the illusion on their website that you could get on Oprah or Larry King if authors used their publicity package. Hogwash! Salem Communications and Xulon Press together claim to be connected to more than 100 Christian radio stations, a cornucopia of Christian magazines, and more than 40 million monthly online page-views representing the largest faith-based audience on the Internet. Ironically and curiously, I as an author with Xulon Press never received a single radio interview or magazine article from Salem Communications promoting my books Xulon Press published .<br>
I can assure you the quality of my books content is noteworthy as by reason of my own publicity and hard work I was able to get radio interviews across the country (without any of Xulon’s help – for such help never came, though was falsely promised) and even radio interviews with several outstanding syndicated radio show hosts including Playboy Radio for 45 minutes about my book Adultery 101.<br>
As for Xulon Press and Salem however, their promises about radio stations and multiple magazines are empty promises that never delivered. Authors therefore should not be falsely seduced by such because Xulon Press is just selling assumptions as they are in the business of selling books. Their publicity services are the worst I’ve ever paid for.<br>
QUALITY: Xulon Press does print high-quality hardcover and paperback editions on a trade-quality cream-white paper and a cover stock that is UV coated for a sleek look that adds durability and longevity to your books.<br>
SPEED: Xulon promises you’ll be a published author in less than 90 days; then we can print your book in less than 60 seconds. A word of caution however is unless you submit everything according to Xulon’s specifications, Xulon won’t budge when it comes to your back cover layout (that is without a fee). Xulon wants it’s authors to submit no more than 300 words for the back cover. I once wanted to change the picture on the back cover and they tried to charge me $75 to do so! Thankfully upon refusing they waived the fee, but it was a mini-battle that was less than pleasant.<br>
YOU KEEP YOUR RIGHTS: Xulon lets you keep 100% of the rights to your book. If another publisher comes along and wants to publish your book, you are free to cancel your agreement with them anytime. This agreeably is a good thing for authors, but I have yet to try to do it. When that time comes if anything changes, I shall modify this article.<br>
DISTRIBUTION: Xulon claims to work with book distributors and retailers worldwide. They say your book will be available to 25,000 bookstores and for sale on the world’s biggest Internet sites including Amazon.com, Target.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and many others. True! Xulon does get your book listed with the above websites, for which I commend them. That’s a good thing for authors. I sure would like to know who the “many others” are by name.<br>
100% ROYALTIES: We are the only publisher who gives you a 100% royalty rate on copies sold to bookstores. Unlike other publishers, who keep up to 75% of your royalty, we give it all back to you.<br>
That is a plus for authors however the royalty check I received only amounted to $64 from Xulon Press for my 4 books – which is reason for concern. I recently received a letter from another Xulon author who also has yet to receive her royalty check. A third Xulon author wrote me telling me they felt they were overcharged and currently disputing some matters.<br>
Considering many of the executives running Xulon Press were trained and used to work for Creation House Publishers, lets compare apples to oranges. I published 2 books with Creation House and always get more timely and larger royalty payments from Creation House than I do from Xulon with whom I published 4 books. You would think my royalty payments from Xulon would be larger, but it’s the reverse as my royalty checks from Creation House have been three figures versus Xulon’s two.<br>
HUGE WHOLESALE DISCOUNTS: Each time you purchase copies of your book we give you a HUGE wholesale discount of up to 70% off the retail price of your book. Up to….is always a clever way to say something from a sales perspective. Up to does not always mean you get it. “Up to” means at any given point in time you might randomly be able to. Certainly a 70% discount is good, but usually you have to buy a substantial quantity of books to apply for such a sizeable discount.<br>
I like this department at Xulon because their shipping department actually answers the phone. I suppose when a sale is involved this warrants immediate attention. <br>
PERSONAL ATTENTION: Xulon claims they are “here for you by telephone or e-mail whenever you need help or have a question.” My experience however has been that Xulon communicates best by email and is very good via correspondence. Via telephone I found rarely did they ever answer the telephone. That says a lot considering I published 4 books with them. POD publishing is such that other publishers like Publish America don’t ever answer their phones either and this is problematic for authors with questions needing to be answered. So at least Xulon is good about answering emails, which I found to be way better than trying to get through by phone.<br>
As a Xulon author I just want every author to get a fair shake and know the full details of the publishing agreement and with whom they are dealing. I can suggest some better publishing options for sure for the price and poor publicity offered by Xulon. Don’t buy the lie and swallow assumptions when publishing your prized book.<br>
If however you want a quick Christian publisher and aren’t worried about spending a little, go with Xulon and come to me for your publicity needs. <br>
Paul F Davis – author of “Supernatural Fire”; “Adultery 101”; “Are You Ready For True Love?”; and “Poems That Propel The Planet” all published with Xulon Press<br>
http://www.PaulFDavis.com<br>
RevivingNations@yahoo.com<br>
Paul F. Davis is a worldwide minister who has touched over 50 countries & 6 continents building bridges cross-culturally and empowering people throughout the earth to live their dreams!<br>
Paul is the author of 14 books. Thanks to his own genius and publicity, Paul has appeared on Oprah & Friends, Fox News Radio, and Playboy Radio among many other shows to promote his books.<br>
Paul builds dreams, transcends limitations, and reconciles nations.<br>
http://www.PaulFDavis.com<br>
RevivingNations@yahoo.com<br>
Contact Paul for a book consultation if you are a serious author willing to invest in your future. Knowledge is power, time is money and your life’s work is precious. Design a publicity package that will produce for your book and maximize your message.<br>
Paul’s primary passion is writing and international speaking, but will consider helping a few promisng authors with projects of interest who pay him well.<br>
Paul is the author of 14 books emowering people to love passionately & live fearlessly.<br>
http://www.PaulFDavis.com<br>
RevivingNations@yahoo.com <br>
Paul F Davis - Weblog 
TV Guide and NY Times say Oprah Winfrey’s Empire is Crumbling
TV Guide’s Chloe Tse article dated 05-27-2008 reports tremors in Oprah’s media empire.
According to TV Guide Winfrey’s new-age spiritualism and political persuasion is jeopardizing her marketability in the media, thereby diminishing her status.
Perhaps Winfrey’s longtime reign over the media is coming to an abrupt end. For so long revered as nearly a saint because of her uplifting programming, Oprah is now beginning to receive criticism for her views. It has often been said that one should not talk about their religion and politics. Oprah is defying the odds and daring to do both.
I salute her for her authenticity and boldness to express her individuality. Yet doing so is simultaneously hurting her marketability. Nevertheless on the flip side of that argument, we do well to remember that controversy does sell. Who knows the queen of TV could remake herself into an activist for worthy causes and a voice against social injustice. Nobody can dispute Oprah has done and is doing a lot of good in the world. And with such influence why shouldn’t she let her voice be heard?
The New York Times says Oprah’s choices are gaining skepticism and audiences are tuning out. According to Nielson Media Research, for the third straight year in a row, Oprah is experiencing a decline in audience viewers.
Research shows Oprah’s program has dropped 7% of its viewers this year alone. Oprah’s other projects also seem to be suffering. For example her reality show Oprah’s Big Give debuted this winter with a huge audience and beat every program on television except for American Idol, but also experienced the loss of almost a third of its audience.
Winfrey’s readership of O her magazine, which you would think to have increased with the nonstop promotion of Tolle’s book, suffered a beating and loss of 10% over the last 3 years according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Even Oprah’s favorite and highly promoted books in her book club are suffering harsh criticism. Apparently Oprah either didn’t adequately study the demographics of her viewers, or disregarded her viewers beliefs altogether. Women in the deep south who heavily watch Oprah’s program are typically Christian and many supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton. Hence Oprah has cut her own throat by alienating Christendom with her new age books and shows, while simultaneously disenchanting white women when she endorsed Barak Obama for President.
As a Christian who read “A New Earth” and found it a in meaningful book, I understand both how Oprah feels and religious folks who don’t play around with their faith. Certainly not all Christians can eat the fish and spit out the bones when reading spiritual truths originating from another ideological orbit. Politically Americans aren’t very tolerant or understanding either, as evidenced by the great political divide in our country between Republicans and Democrats.
I commend Oprah for being true to what she believes in and bold enough to share what she thinks will empower people to live better lives. Her intentions and motives are certainly pure. If Oprah were solely money motivated, she would not continue to promote her spiritual and political views. Yet being already established financially, Oprah is embarking upon larger more meaningful missions to change the world. O Ambassadors is just one new endeavor Oprah is partnering with Free the Children to liberate and educate kids worldwide.
Hopefully Oprah who says she is a Christian will not find problems with parents concerned about their children getting sold new-age ideas. I think Oprah is doing a great work and deserves our support. Yet at the same time we who have beliefs of our own should not be any less vocal than Oprah.
Anything worth having in life requires a sacrifice. For Oprah it is a drop in viewer ratings, book sales, and magazine distribution. Nevertheless the rewards of the sacrifice should be sufficient to warrant the losses. Often we must first be willing to lose in order to win.
It cannot be disputed that ultimately we attract what we are. We cannot please everyone and succeed. We are at our best when we are true to ourselves and transparent about it. That Oprah is and that is why we love her.
Beyond touching hearts and putting tears in our eyes, Oprah also makes people think. Now raising eyebrows and making us scratch our heads, Oprah is finding herself as she further evolves. She recently said on her program that she admits to not having enough time to truly enjoy herself. Perhaps as Oprah becomes more present and lets go of the ambition of sustaining her empire, critics will be silenced and her true spirit will emerge in purity untainted from the labels many have tried to presumptuously give her.
Dividing audiences is not always a bad thing as even the Word of God itself divides, while exposing our hearts (see Hebrews 4:12). Although Oprah’s television audience is predominately middle-aged white women who support Senator Hillary Clinton, most Americans are awaking to the reality that we need some color in the White House to truly get real and heal the homeland.
Angry criticism of new-age spiritualism and political disputes though a common message thread on the message boards from her website, Oprah will continue to transcend the accusations and come out on top as she honors the God of truth. Love rejoices in the truth and we should do no less.
Next up for Oprah is OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. featuring programming that will reflect Winfrey’s vision of what she considers empowering programming.
You can’t go wrong when you touch, teach, and transform your audience.
It’s not about being the queen of the media as much as it is about living a meaningful life of purpose to impact humanity.
Paul F Davis – international speaker and author
http://www.PaulFDavis.com
RevivingNations@yahoo.com
Paul F. Davis is a world-changing leadership & diversity speaker who has touched over 50 countries & 6 continents building bridges cross-culturally and empowering people throughout the earth to live their dreams!
Paul is the author of 14 books. Paul has appeared on numerous internationally broadcast radio shows from Oprah & Friends to Fox News Radio to talk about conflict resolution, peacemaking, foreign policy, and diplomacy. Playboy Radio host Tiffany Granath calls Paul an “awesome” relational coach and recommends his books on love, dating, and sexuality.
Academically outstanding Davis was trained in transformative mediation & conflict resolution (Hofstra Law School); strategic negotiations (Harvard Business School & U. of Washington); advanced interrogation (Reid & Associates founders of the polygraph); and NLP & Life Coaching (NLP & Coaching Institute of California).
Paul humorously and elegantly transforms individuals and organizations.
Paul’s organization Dream-Maker Inc. builds dreams, transcends limitations, & reconciles nations.
Paul worked at Ground Zero in NYC during 9/11; helped rebuild a home at the tsunami epicenter; comforted victims of genocide in Rwanda; spoke to leaders in East Timor during the war; inspired students & monks in Myanmar; promoted peace & reconciliation in Pakistan; and has been so deep into the bush of rural Africa where villagers had never before seen a white man.
Paul empowers people to love passionately and live fearlessly.
http://www.PaulFDavis.com
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